Rock County Veterans Services Office Rent Will Be More Than Anticipated

County Facilities Management Director Brent Sutherland told The Gazette on Thursday that annual rent is now expected to be $70,000 per year for 10 years, significantly higher than the $50,000 annual cost estimate shared in July.

After 10 years, the annual rent will go down to $60,000. Sutherland said the additional cost allows the building owner, Saad Mustafa, to recoup construction costs related to preparing the space.

Current cost

The county’s current lease for its Veterans Services Office at the Eclipse Center in Beloit expires at the end of December. Annual rent there is $16,793, significantly lower than what the county will pay in the new facility.

The Veterans Services Office also currently uses space in the Rock County Courthouse in Janesville that is rent-free.

The county opted to reimburse the construction costs through rent rather than one lump sum right away, Sutherland said. He attributed the change from the original rent estimation and the final rent total to a negotiation process.

Sutherland said he is confident that, although there could be delays, the move will happen by Jan. 1.

The preparation has included maintenance and construction to common areas, and will continue through December. The project also still needs a conditional use permit from the city of Janesville.

The new location is in a former Clark gas station in front of Rock County’s Dr. Daniel Hale Williams Resource Center. Private businesses will use other suites in the building.

County Veterans Service Officer Paul Crawford told The Gazette in July that the location was strategically chosen because of the proximity to other businesses and it being in front of the resource center.

The resource center will be used as overflow meeting space and it will serve as a close connection to the job center and the Aging & Disability Resource Center, both county agencies with which Veterans Services Office works closely. There is also a nearby bus stop.

The relocated Veterans Services Office will have closed-door offices that can provide privacy for veterans, handicapped-accessible bathrooms, a waiting area and a conference room that will help improve tele-hearing appointments for veterans.

Crawford has said having the two offices, one in Janesville and one in Beloit, does not make sense for Veterans Services’ four employees.

The space that the county will use in the new building is approximately 2,800 square feet, less than the 2,857 square feet in the Eclipse Center.

Staff will continue to meet with veterans in-person at the new facility, but will be available off-site by appointment as well either in homes or elsewhere in communities. Staff will also communicate through Zoom, email, traditional mail and phone. They will also work with people through the Retired Senior Volunteer Program’s Vets Driving Vets Program

“The goal of our office is and has always been to reach and assist the veterans of Rock County,” Crawford wrote in a statement Thursday.

The space in the courthouse now used by the Veterans Services Office will be renovated for the county’s accounting staff.